Thursday, July 31, 2014

Gene Campaign welcomed move that
the Government has held up the permission given by the Genetic Engineering
Approval committee (GEAC) to conduct 15 field trials of five GM crops. Dr Suman
Sahai of Gene Campaign said although the GEAC could only have proceeded with a
green signal from the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), it is nevertheless
good that the MoEF has reconsidered its decision.

For one, the matter is sub judice
since the Supreme Court is still considering the report of the Technical Expert
Committee (TEC) appointed by it in response to two PILs, the first filed by
Gene Campaign in 2004. In its report, the TEC has advised abundant caution in
the matter of releasing GM crops in the absence of an adequate regulatory
system and suggested a moratorium till the regulatory system was substantially improved.
This is in keeping with the prayer of Gene Campaign in its 2004 PIL.

The government must move in a
transparent and intelligent manner on the issue of GM crops and give itself
time to develop an informed opinion on the subject after comprehensive
consultations.The MoEF Minister Mr. Javadekar
has indicated that he is inclined to do this.There is no compelling reason to rush ahead with the release of GM
crops. There is nothing in the pipeline that promises anything for either food
or nutrition security. Nor do we have a food crisis at hand. In any case, we
are producing large amounts of food by conventional agriculture already.

The BJP had stated in its
manifesto that it would consider GM crops only after careful scientific testing
and evaluation.After government
formation, one of the first public statements made by the new Agriculture
Minister Sri Radha Mohan Singh was that GM crops were not the priority of the
Agriculture Ministry. Then suddenly out of the blue, in a significant
turnaround, came the announcement that permissions to go ahead with field
trials had been granted for a large number of crops.

Dr. Sahai said that sending such
conflicting signals is not good for policy making and does not help any of the
stakeholders.Indian policy has been
favorable to moving into a high tech era. However technologies are seldom value
neutral and their adoption must be done after due reflection. The new Prime
Minister is known to be a technology buff.

Genetic engineering is a
regulated technology and if we want to adopt it, it must be regulated properly
to protect the environment as well as human and animal health. There are
several outstanding concerns about GM crops and despite the biotech industry’s rhetoric
about their safety, these concerns need to be resolved in an open and
transparent manner.

We need to keep in mind that it
is those very scientists who developed GM technology and who better than any
one else understood the positive and negative aspects of it, who asked that
this technology be carefully regulated. Just like the technology for generating
atomic energy is regulated and is subject to several safeguards that must be
carefully implemented, genetic engineering is also a regulated technology with
its own set of safeguards and testing protocols that must be implemented.

The government would do well to
make a new beginning with a review of existing reports and hold consultations
to put in place a stringent regulatory system. Much thought and many inputs ,
the latest being the TEC report, have gone into definingthe contours of a rigorous biosafety testing
process anda credible regulatory system
that can evaluate both the scientific and socio-economic impacts of GM crops.
The outputs of such a system will enable policy makers to take correct
decisions.

About Me

Dr. Suman Sahai, who has had a distinguished scientific career in the field of genetics, is a recipient of the Padma Shri,the Borlaug Award, Outstanding Woman Achiever awards, the BirbalSahni Gold Medal and the Order of the Golden Ark .
Dr. Sahai is founder Chairperson of the Gene Campaign which is a leading research and advocacy organization, working on issues relating to food, nutrition and livelihoods. She has published extensively on science and policy issues and is a member of several national policy forums on scientific research and education, biodiversity and environment, biotechnology and bioethics as well as intellectual property rights.
Dr Sahai chaired India’s Planning Commission Task Force on ‘Agro biodiversity and Genetically Engineered Organisms’, for the XIth Plan. She was a member of the Steering Committee of the National Biodiversity Board , the Expert Committee on Biotechnology Policy and the Bioethics Committee of the Indian Council of Medical Research.She has served on the Research Advisory Committees of national scientific institutions.
Dr Sahai can be reached at www.genecampaign.org and mail@genecampaign.org